Stormwater Monitoring
In August 2008, Clallam County began working on a project to develop a comprehensive stormwater management plan, facilitated by a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency. The grant focuses on the Sequim area, which is experiencing the most rapid development within the County and which is undergoing pollution-cleanup plans under both state shellfishing regulations and the federal Clean Water Act. But the County's goal is a comprehensive stormwater management plan for the whole County.
Under the EPA grant, Streamkeepers coordinated stormwater monitoring activities through 2011, in partnership with the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe. During 2008 to 2009, Streamkeepers conducted a pilot study with several components, including an examination of stormwater-borne pollutants in surface water. The Washington Department of Ecology provided technical assistance and laboratory analysis.
- Stormwater Pollutant Monitoring Plan, 2008 to 2009 (PDF)
- Addendum to the Stormwater Pollutant Monitoring Plan, Fall 2009 (PDF)
In June 2009, Streamkeepers staff and volunteers partnered with Jamestown S'Klallam Tribal staff to collect freshwater sediments from streams, agricultural ditches, and catch basins. Eleven locations were sampled in the marine recovery area for the purpose of measuring sediment pollutant concentrations associated with stormwater runoff.
This 2009 study was in part a follow-up to a 2003 study conducted by Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories in conjunction with Clallam County in the Sequim-Port Angeles area (3MB download).
In 2010 to 2011, Streamkeepers staff and volunteers monitored stormwater-related surface water pollutants at five Sequim-area stream sites.
In 2015, Herrera Environmental Consultants analyzed the data from the EPA project: Herrera Analysis (PDF)